Sketchcrawl Melbourne - some pictures!

It's damn fun, that I can tell you! There were over 50 locations participating yesterday, as people slowed down to look around and draw (or record) what they saw.

Here's a little story of the day, in sketch and photos.

As my tram inched up Swanston St., I wasn't sure what to expect. How many people would be there? Would they all know each other?

I was even looking around, checking for people carrying sketchbooks, and when I got to the State Library, they were obvious: a cluster of almost 20 people carrying sketchpads and cameras. All ages, some obviously old hands at the sketching game, others with new small notebooks and a pencil tucked in a pocket, and some - like me - waking up rusty old skills.

Several photographers joined us, and my friend Annie raced off to get thin paper and some pastels so that she could do better rubbings of decorative textures. (She found some fabulous art deco lettering by the end of the day.) Janice, aka Jen, who organised the day beautifully (thank you Jen!) handed us our itineraries. Let the Worldwide Sketchcrawl begin!

First stop, State Library of Victoria

City centre, sun worshippers, students, high-rise dwellers. Tourists, trams and groups of men in dark suits, being led first one way and then the other, appearing several times with their guide. Hmm.

After warm-up sketches on the lawn of the State Library, I followed the photographers who were hunting art deco delights, street art and swanky buildings. Here are two of them, Karen and Jenny, in action:

I wondered if there were any big, hairy spiders hiding in all those boxes of bananas...

... but I did not go closer to investigate.

And we dined like kings on cheese, bread, and donuts from the Polish Deli, mmmm, those donuts!

Last stop: bing! bing! Bourke Street!

Teens and tourists, buskers, bikers and fashion-victims, families, friends, and lots of hot, tired people waiting for trams. We settled on the cool steps of the GPO in prime position to sketch them all.

Six Sketchcrawlers, sitting on stone steps.

Jen, our intrepid organiser, is in the front of the photo and I'm at the bottom (with my newly-made blue and white linen shirt). You can see some of Jen's sketches on her Flickr site, or on her blog, Friperee.

There were about 20 of us at this time, and it was amusing to see people walk past.... stop, look, and then ask "Hey, are you guys a sketching class?"

There were some excellent buskers who serenaded us as we drew, and lots of hot and tired shoppers, not moving much:

By this time in was past 3PM, and - can you hear it? That little call? Could it be? Yes! A cool seat in the Block Arcade, tall drinks and lots of water, conveniently located across from Haigh's chocolates.

A round of lemon myrtle chocolates for all, and thank you Annie for introducing me to another gorgeous Australian delicacy. Mm! Food, friends and drawing: it was a whole day of playtime for me!